My first map post. Paris pictorial.

Rook77

Posted 29 March 2011 - 11:23 AM

Rook77

Contributor

Validated Member

12 posts

Taiwan

Hi all , first post here!

This is a map I made for a piece of coursework. I drew it in about 2 weeks using pencil, and got the base from google maps, which I traced over. The final product was an A1 poster, with labels linking particular sites with essays and other text. I took the labels off to show the full map. The audience was my lecturer, who was very happy with the whole thing thankfully! I really enjoyed making it and hope to make others.

I was hoping for some advice. I don't have very much space so I need to create this sort of thing on panels. I also travel a lot and don't want to carry unwieldy big maps. This means stitching everything together on the computer is a problem. What's a good program to do this? I used powerpoint this time - which was a bit rubbish - and I'd like to edit bits after it is scanned in. I tried photoshop CS3 but got confused by the whole thing .

This is the first time I've made anything like this. I know the building scales are out, and the perspective is a bit dodgy, and had dealines not been looming I'd have liked to make the buildings all very detailed. But overall I'm quite happy with it, even though I imagine it breaks a fair few cartographic rules!

Sorry the image is very small. It's just a screen capture of powerpoint. I don't really know how to get a larger image up, as only the separate panels are in jpg. I'm a bit rubbish with computers (though excellent at sketchup for some reason).

Thanks; I've really liked looking at all the other maps here - some are amazing!

Jean-Louis

Posted 30 March 2011 - 04:15 PM

Jean-Louis

Ultimate Contributor

Validated Member

545 posts

Gender:Male

Location:Montreal Quebec

Interests:In the vast ocean of my ignorance, I have a few bubbles of interests

Canada

Mon Dieu!
That is quite amazing for two weeks.
I,ll echo some of what has been said, namely that it is a shame we cannot see the details and that you would be better off just naming it Paris rather than revolutionary Paris of 1789 which would be quite different.

Your best bet is to use Photoshop. You dont need to learn everything about the program to get started. For example you could do a nice digital Blackline version quite easily (if laboriously) learning to use just one Photoshop tool.

For example, you import your sketch into photoshop. Put it on one new layer, then adjust the opacity of that layer to about 60%(it will become very light) and then add one new layer on top of that . Then you choose the paintbrush tool, Set it to a 3pt line in black You will then have something like a pencil with a piece of tracing paper over your drawing. You can re-trace and improve your drawing on this new layer.

The advantage is that you bill able to zoom in as close as you want and later you can add color to it without affecting your line drawing.

Rook77

Posted 01 April 2011 - 12:01 AM

You did that by hand? Have you seen that video of that guy that draws things like uber-fast. Didn't I see that here somewhere. Anybody remember?

Thanks very much for the comments everyone!

I agree the name is a little vague and does seem to imply it is a historical map. What I intended to show was how the Great Revolution and successive revolutions (including the Communard uprising) shaped Paris. I also wanted to show how, right up until the present day, different individuals and groups have tried to preserve, and also erase, landscapes associated with the revolutions. This is why the map is a contemporary view with historical snapshots within. I do think Sites of Revolution in Paris would have been a better title.

I've put some more detailed views here (why I didn't do this at the start I don't know)!

So for example, in the Place de la Concorde, in the SW of the image below (ringed), the little graphic intends to show the a guilotine being hidden and replaced with the Luxor obelisk. This square was a focal point of the revolution, where many protests and executions took place. The obelisk was erected by the Bourbon monarchy in 1836, as a means of nuetralising this space; taking the focus away from revolution, (and the beheading of King Louis), and toward distant lands. (A lot of the map shows the efforts of the Bourbon monarchs and the 3rd Republic, who did their best to erase all physical and mental trace of revolution from the landscape). I put about 40 different sites on the final map, though not all of them are very clear without the accompanying text.

Thanks for the advice Jean-Louis. I will experiment with the method you've mentioned and see what results I get , and post them up. I am currently working on my next one, which will certainly take longer than two weeks! (It was two weeks where I did nothing but draw and write essays - you can see where I had to rush a lot of buildings to finish in time)! I will experiment with color as well when I sort out photoshop.

Rook77

Posted 01 April 2011 - 12:08 AM

Hans van der Maarel

Posted 01 April 2011 - 12:12 AM

Hans van der Maarel

CartoTalk Editor-in-Chief

Admin

4,126 posts

Gender:Male

Location:The Netherlands

Interests:Cartography, GIS, history, popular science, music.

Netherlands

We have a system in place where posts by new members need to be approved by a mod. We've had to do that to battle the sometimes huge volumes of spam that we get. I've approved your posts and also validated your membership, so from now on your posts will appear immediately.

Rook77

Posted 01 April 2011 - 12:32 AM

Rook77

Contributor

Validated Member

12 posts

Taiwan

We have a system in place where posts by new members need to be approved by a mod. We've had to do that to battle the sometimes huge volumes of spam that we get. I've approved your posts and also validated your membership, so from now on your posts will appear immediately.

Ah I see. I thought I was clicking the wrong button or something. Thanks very much.

Jean-Louis

Posted 01 April 2011 - 12:05 PM

Interests:In the vast ocean of my ignorance, I have a few bubbles of interests

Canada

You did that by hand? Have you seen that video of that guy that draws things like uber-fast. Didn't I see that here somewhere. Anybody remember?

Esther, the guy you are thinking of is Steven Wiltshire. He is an autistic savant who draws very accurate and detailed wall-size renditions of big cities like Rome from memory after a hour and a half helicopter ride. He is all over youtube. It the most amazing (and humbling) thing.

Rook77

Posted 01 April 2011 - 12:08 PM

Rook77

Contributor

Validated Member

12 posts

Taiwan

You did that by hand? Have you seen that video of that guy that draws things like uber-fast. Didn't I see that here somewhere. Anybody remember?

Esther, the guy you are thinking of is Steven Wiltshire. He is an autistic savant who draws very accurate and detailed wall-size renditions of big cities like Rome from memory after a hour and a half helicopter ride. He is all over youtube. It the most amazing (and humbling) thing.

He's amazing, I can't do that at all . I've been doing my latest one (Nottingham) a lot from memory. But that's after living there for 3 years, not seeing it for an hour and a half!